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All three militants killed, Jammu encounter ends

FIERCE ENCOUNTER: Army personnel atop a house during an operation to flush out the militants holed up inside, at Chinore, on the outskirts of Jammu, on Wednesday. —

The fate of seven hostages in the house not known

JAMMU: Security forces late on Wednesday night killed the last of the three militants holed up in a residential building at Chinore in a crowded area on the city’s outskirts, 20 km from the International Border, ending a long encounter.

The fate of the seven persons, taken hostage by the militants, was not known. They included three women and four children.

Before taking the seven persons hostage, the militants, suspected to have infiltrated from Pakistan on Tuesday, killed four persons, including an Army officer.

One militant holed up in the house, situated in a crowded area just 20 km from the International Border, was killed in the early stage of the encounter that began around 7 a.m., police said.

Another was eliminated late in the evening after a three-hour lull in the exchange of fire, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Jammu K Rajendra told reporters. He tried to escape under the cover of darkness.

Barbed wire fencing was erected in the area around the house during the encounter.

Police said those killed were two civilians, a jawan, identified as Havildar Vijay Kumar, and a Junior Commissioned Officer Naik Subedar V.V.K. Paarkashan. Six people were injured. Earlier reports said three civilians were killed.

The militants, suspected by the police to be those who infiltrated across the border under a cover of firing by the Pakistani forces, came in a goods carrier and attacked an Army checkpost in the Domana-Mishriwala area on the Jammu-Akhnoor-Poonch highway in the morning.

A high alert has been sounded across the city and people have been asked not to step out of their houses, the police said.

All entry and exit points had been sealed and a massive checking of vehicles was on, they added. — PTI